Labor Day Memory
by butterfly collective
Summary: Matt and C.J. spend time at the beach with their new daughter, some time after "Glimmer of Twilight"


Another holiday blurb! Hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading. No real plot, except it's from the Glimmer of Twilight storyline later on.

* * *

The waves broke on the shore as she sat there looking outward into the sea. A vast expanse of turbulent water, mostly hidden below a smooth surface that was dotted by small specks of sail boats closer to the horizon from where she sat.

Behind her were the dunes that sprawled against the firmly packed sand closer to the water's edge and then came the sea wall which separated the beaches from the summer's cottages that stood behind them. Families occupied most of them this time of year, parents slapping floppy hats and sunscreen on impatient children while preparing food to be packed away in bags to be taken onto the beach.

Labor Day weekend, the final days of the summer vacation months for people to enjoy before heading into the routine of the autumn season. Kids returning to school and adults to work.

For C.J. that meant returning to her vocation which involved helping women in crisis and being apart from her new daughter at least part of the day for the first time. Ever since giving birth to Gracie, she had enjoyed the time spent with her from the time her daughter woke her up just after midnight for a feeding until she checked on her sleeping form before heading to bed. The past few months had been exhausting to be sure, a test of her endurance and ability to function without much sleep but they'd been wondrous as well. She had lived each day and then packed it away in a safe place with the rest of her memories just as she pressed snapshots and other mementos of her daughter's earliest months in her album.

She looked forward to returning to the job which rewarded her in so many ways but she would miss the time spent watching her child grow and explore the world each day. She had kept Gracie close to her when she worked at the ranch house on a book that she had been writing in between motherhood's more chaotic moments and they had gone to Houston to visit Matt and the others where they worked, eating lunch at while everyone fussed around Gracie. Even Chris' son Daniel who had thrived since his heart surgery seemed taken with the dark-haired little girl. Maybe as they grew up together, they could become good friends, maybe even closer friends as she had been with Matt.

The real world would be coming soon enough but until then she had this weekend with her husband and her daughter.

"May I join you," a voice asked.

She looked up to see Matt arriving and she nodded.

"I thought Gracie would have worn you out," she said, "but thanks for some quiet time."

"My pleasure," he said, sitting down, "Mama's taking care of her, teaching her how to cook some pasta dishes."

They were weekending in southern Florida on their way back from some time spent on the island in the Caribbean Sea where they had stayed with friends. Vince had been glad to see them and Mama being Mama had just taken over.

"She's already showing some stubbornness she's inherited from someone," C.J. said, with a smile.

"Well I happen to know that her mother doesn't let go of something once she gets hold of it," he said, "Made her an awfully good investigator."

She chuckled.

"Oh, I think it comes from your side of the family," she said, "after hearing stories from Roy and Bill before he died about your family."

Matt looked at his wife, who looked awfully nice in that swimsuit. She had said she had held onto a few pounds after Gracie's birth but he didn't notice. Her dark hair sat in gentle waves about shoulder length and her muscles remained firm from resuming fitness training including self-defense skills. She always wanted to keep her body honed and her mind, sharp if any of the enemies from their past dropped by for a visit. After the past several years, he couldn't blame her for that.

"Beautiful day," he said.

She nodded.

"It's been a great summer," she said, "Our first as parents."

He took her hand in his own and rubbed it as they both stared out into the ocean.

"Yeah, it sure has been…"

There had been other trips to other beaches in the past years that they knew each other. Trips to the coast of the Gulf of Mexico outside of Houston when they were kids during summer breaks. Vacations spent together at different spots on the Atlantic seaboard including Martha's Vineyard where they had ridden to several times on Matt's motorcycle and stayed in cottages there while escaping from the rest of the world.

Occasionally even an ex-boyfriend.

She thought like the one year she and Matt had spent another Labor Day weekend after she had a fight with her then boyfriend Jonathan. The time when he and she…well it hadn't really all that far before she reined herself in.

Then there had been the time when they had headed off to Baja to go fishing with a friend of his fathers who had lived outside a coastal village and then had bumped into Matt's old college buddy Scott which hadn't been so pleasant. She had never liked him even back then before she really found out what kind of person lived behind the silver tongued exterior. But she hadn't hated him yet.

Several months spent hiding out in an uncharted tropical island with Matt living in a bungalow and going deep sea fishing during the day while they figured out how to get home. In a way, that's where they had fallen in love although they hadn't realized it.

She sure did now sitting quietly on a beach alongside him, his hand embracing her own as they watched some dolphins play.

* * *

Mama looked over at C.J. and shook her head.

"You're not eating enough, no?"

C.J. looked up from where she chopped onions, trying not to let her eyes tear from the pungent aroma. They were making pizza and while Mama took over the tough part of it, she had her helpers preparing the ingredients. Vince had grated some cheeses and Matt had worked on the chilies which naturally were his favorite additive.

She had already fed Gracie who had settled down for a nap and then headed into the kitchen to help with the dinner effort.

"I had a big breakfast," C.J. said, "Houston was working on perfecting his new omelet."

She gathered up the onions in her hands and sprinkled them on the pizza. Matt added some of the chilies on half of it while Vince proved to be very generous with the cheese.

"Not too much," Mama scolded him.

"You can't have too much…it's a main ingredient."

She threw her son a look that he knew all too well.

"Not on my pizza," she said, "The cheese accentuates the flavor, it does not overwhelm."

C.J. stifled back a laugh.

"Way to tell him Mama…"

Vince just shook his head and looked at Matt.

"They're gaining up on us," he said, "Just wait until my wife walks in…"

Mama shook her finger at him.

"She's too busy taking care of your six children," she said, "and getting ready to have your seventh..."

Vince rolled his eyes.

"Mama, didn't you spend years pestering me to have more than four sons," he said, "And now you're complaining?"

Mama just turned to C.J.

"This is what I get from my ungrateful son," she said, "How many kids are you planning to have?"

C.J. just smiled and looked over at Matt.

"We're still trying to decide," she said, "but we're definitely going to have another one."

Mama beamed and clasped her hands together.

"That will be wonderful," she said, "and you know, Rosa would be a wonderful name for a girl."

C.J. agreed.

"We'll think about it Mama."

"They grow up before you know it…"

C.J. knew that time passed very quickly when children were involved; after all sometimes it seemed like yesterday she had been struggling to deliver her daughter at Cattle Annie's ranch rather than six months ago. And hadn't Butterfly been a little girl when she and Matt had rescued her from the pimp who killed her sister? Now, she was in her teens contemplating film school while breaking the hearts of many boys at her high school.

But for her and Matt, the time had passed by slower to catch up with Gracie who had been in someplace inside of her heart for years waiting for the moment to be created.

It had been a long journey for both of them to get together and have Gracie. After surmounting many obstacles and finding their way towards the same place. Many times, she had doubted she would ever know happiness again but she had found it and she didn't take any of it for granted.

They ate dinner in the courtyard in front of the house that the Novellis had rented during their summer vacation while the children bolted down their food and then took off running on the beach as the sun turned the sky a blend of reds, oranges and finally purples as it set.

Another day had come and gone. Another day had passed in their daughter's life and she had fallen asleep as soon as they laid her down.

C.J. checked on her daughter before heading back to the living room in the cottage where Matt had been catching up on some work for a presentation in a few days. He put it down when she sat on the couch next to him.

"It's really something," he said, "to think about all that goes into raising children. My daddy wasn't always around but I never wanted for someone to take care of me."

Matt had an extended family on the ranch where he had grown up including the ranch hands such as Bo and Lamar who spent half of their time working on their newer family ranch back home. They traveled the rest of the time after having started a musical group with some of the other locals.

"My parents died early on," C.J. said, "but I never really felt lonely because of you and your family. I want Gracie to have that same experience."

Matt nodded.

"Me too," he said and then he read her face, "C.J. she's going to be just fine."

C.J. looked up at him suddenly.

"Fine…what do you mean?"

He stroked the hair off of her face.

"You're going to miss her when you return to work soon."

She paused and then she nodded.

"I will…but I think to be the best mother I can be, I need to continue the work that I'm doing," she said, "but I loved being with her and watching her grow and discover the world around her."

"You'll still get to experience that," he said, "We both will with her and our other children."

She smiled envisioning that.

"I know…but it was so special to share that with her," she said, "and I'm going to miss that."

"Having second thoughts?"

"Not really," she said, "I know it will be all right. She'll be fine and I'll be, too."

Matt wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. She closed her eyes enjoying the touch of his hands on her and the scent of his cologne.

"She'll be growing up quickly and be off to school soon," he said, "then soon enough, there will be high school and dances…"

"And boys…"

Matt didn't know if he liked the sound of that because he didn't think that anyone out there was good enough for his little girl. C.J. had joked with him often enough that soon enough, he would be the father waiting up all night for his daughter to return from a date with some guy like he was when he had been younger.

"I know…"

She turned to look at him.

"You really worried about running into a younger version of yourself that's interested in your daughter?"

"Well I'm going to have to set some ground rules before that happen," he said, "but this is all new to me."

She squeezed his hand.

"You've been a great father," she said, "You'll do just fine. We both have to figure out the learning curve."

He looked at her.

"I think there are a few things left to figure out…"

"Like what?"

He kissed her lips softly and he reached for her shirt.

"Like how am I going to get through these buttons…"

She chuckled as she felt his fingers unbuttoning her blouse.

"Houston…"

"Mmmmm?"

"I think I hear something…"

"That's my heart beating."

"No, I think it's Gracie," she said, getting off the couch.

He just looked at her and smiled. She turned to face him.

"Come with me…we'll check on her and then we'll pick up where you left off…"

He put his arm around her waist.

"You've got a deal…"

They walked in where their daughter slept, still quietly. C.J. walked over and made sure she was comfortable.

"She's had a long day," Matt said, "and she's tired."

They both gazed at her for a while longer and then Matt took her hand.

"Come on…we'd better turn in too…"

"I'm not tired…"

He waggled his brows at her.

"Who said anything about sleep?"

She looked at him and they left the room, while their daughter lay asleep.


End file.
